# "5 Brothers" Smoking Tobacco - My Opinion with Pics



## PinkFloydFan (Oct 1, 2009)

Good Afternoon Folks,

Well, I had a bit of a stressful day at work.. Spent the day basically dealing with problems created by the indecision and lack of or innappropriate planning of others.

I don't know about you.. But that shit drives be crazy..

So... today was selected as a good day to give a full test ride to my pouch of 5 Brother Smoking tobacco. 
As you may know, this stuff is acclaimed as a very strong tobacco, with quite the Nicotine quota.. 
I had not smoked anything since this morning, ( Just a cigarette with my coffee at about 0615hrs. and no other nicotine fixes throughout the day.. )
I was ready for whatever this bowl would bring me.

I poured a leftover cup of coffee from this mornings pot and nuked it for a minute or 2. I added some Cremora and sat down to deal with this bowl and my camera was in hand. ( Batteries almost dead.. But enough for the job)

Upon opening this pouch, you see what appears to be a very plain looking , super fine "straw" like tobacco, with some shaved stem sections and other dried potions of the plant. 
No real pouch smell other then something reminiscent of opening a pack of Marlboros that has been out in the Sun all day.. 
This was not bad, But nothing that would make you go.. " Damn, this stuff is going to taste nice"

I emptied some on the paper and took some pics.
I packed a full bowl via the gravity method and it very easily compressed down to 1/3. Rinsed and repeated till the bowl was full.
I could see off the get go that there was going to be not issues with lack of air or packing too tight.. The draw remained very easy.
This tobacco was actually a pleasure to pack into my Meer lined Dr.Grab. It seemed a little too dry right out of the pouch.. 
Kinda commensurate with the super fine cut of the leaf and no fermentation or casings added.

Upon performing my pre-light sweep with a match, this stuff lit super easily and began to ignite about 1/3 of the bowls contents with me barely drawing on it. 
Not much of a swell up from any moisture content to deal with at all. 
I took a good draw and sat the bowl down a second. 
I was now trying to place some tastes on it..

Pure tobacco ... was all I really got . Kinda like smoking a generic cigarette .... Maybe a slight peanuty type taste if anything. Not bad.. , But not great. 
I took a few more sips.. and noticed this stuff was burning down inside the bowl very quickly.. Put it down again.. and tamped. 
It literally tamped down to less then 1/2 of the full bowls capacity.. 
I was starting to feel a little nicotine, But nothing overpowering or making feel like I was living dangerously. 
Kinda had a nice little buzz going with a few more sips. The bowl was now lit for a total of about 10 minutes.

Then it happened.. :help:
( Not a bigger nicotine rush... HaHa. )

*A small burning ember managed to basically fly through the shaft , through the stem and land on my dry tongue.* 

*" WTF was that !! "* mg:

I licked the sleeve of my sweatshirt to get it off and saw it was a small peice of stem or something. I sipped my nasty coffee in disgust. 
Not the best experience for a pipe smoker.. But that was the only tongue-bite I had.. 
No steam.. Just a burning ember. 
The stuff continued to burn super quick, even with me more carefully sipping to avoid another flaming branch landing in my mouth. 
Very little Dottle remained , and I didnt plan it that way. 
( FYI- I have been tending to smoke all my pipes without filters except my Savinelli and its Balsa. I have even removed the little metal stems from my Dr. G's to improve draw. )

The nicotine didn't creep up on me anymore then it already was. 
I will say.. It did completely satisfy my craving. And I am trying to get off cigs completely.

I would place this in the something to "try" category. Rather unique in appearance, taste and burn rate to anything else I have smoked... 
It smelled ok when burning.. Much nicer then a cigarette would , despite the similar tobacco appearance.

I could see myself perhaps adding some of this stuff to a blend of my own ( Should I ever try to do that.. Not as of yet.) if for nothing else, Just for the Vitamin N.

Having smoked HOTW, Blackwoods Flake, Erinmore Flake and other dark flakes .. It was a similar N content to those.. 
However, This was not as big a bowl as I usually smoke those in, So perhaps it is just a bit stronger.

In closing, This pouch will last me a long time. I can not see myself smoking it for anything else other then the N content.. and with other better tasting leafs doing the same thing.. IMO, Why even do that?

** Disclaimer: This post is just my opinion of a tobacco I just smoked. My goal is to do nothing more then share my honest experience and opinion with you. Please do not use post exclusively to determine whether or not you should purchase this particular brand of tobacco.. Hopefully, if anything this may just play a minor contributing factor in understanding what you may experience if you choose to try some.. Everyones tastes are different. Please smoke what you enjoy.. and most of all , enjoy the company and pleasure of your pipe... with whatever is in it. 

Respectfully, 
Vin


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## commonsenseman (Apr 18, 2008)

Another great review Vin! :thumb: 

Haven't tried this stuff yet, but it seems like it'd be worth it for the price.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Great review man!


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## DSturg369 (Apr 6, 2008)

Very good review, and aside from the stray ember, it's pretty much what I got out of it. I was gifted a pouch but it's nothing I'd write home about... Just as you stated, it tasted like a generic cigarette or something. I was told to pack this stuff a little firmer than other tobaccos and so I did. A tighter pack made the bowl last a little longer but this stuff is so dry from the pouch it has little choice but to burn quickly. As I do inhale my pipes now and again, this stuff does have a tad higher vitamin N level than my everyday PA, but not terribly much more. I mix the 2 sometimes for a change-up and extra Nic hit.


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## stoked (Nov 30, 2009)

Excellent review and pics, Vin. Thanks for the info - sorry to hear about the stressful day and ember attack. I like the meer lined grabow in the pics.


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## zeavran1 (Aug 18, 2009)

Good review and nice pics.


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

nice work/pics.
i have a large baggie of this. flavor was typical old burley style to me... ghosted the living crap out of one of my Va/Per pipes after 1 bowl alone. does have a strong nicotine content.


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